Pages

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Step #7 - The Liberating Truth About Submission

Welcome friends! I am glad you found my blog and I pray that my writings will guide you to finding peace in the presence of God and thankfulness in your trials so that you can live an abundantly free life in Christ.

The winner of my book give-away is...barryp2003! Congratulations! Please contact me by email with your complete name and address and I will get your book in the mail to you. Thanks for leaving a comment.

Now on to my topic:

The events of this week have brought back to my attention something I thought I had already dealt with, already relinquished to the Lord. Yes, I have, yet I caught myself reaching, striving to grasp it back again. The desire to be in control, to have total authority over my life. Submission goes against my nature, against the grain, it's illogical.

I hear the whispering lies of the enemy: I've got to take the initiative or nothing will get done; he's got issues, he's not trustworthy, I'm stronger and more stable-minded; if I submit, life will be ugly, frightening and oppressive. Have you heard these voices? Satan has done a masterful job of convincing women (and men) that submission is narrow, negative and confining.

"The struggle with submission is not unique to women of our day. In fact, that was the essence of the issue Eve faced back in the Garden of Eden. At the heart of the Serpent's approach to Eve was this challenge: Does God have the right to rule your life? Satan said, in effect, "You can run your own life; you don't have to submit to anyone else's authority. He convinced Eve that if she submitted to God's direction, she would be miserable and would miss out on something in life."
"Satan knows that if we could see the truth about biblical submission - one of the most liberating principles in all of God's Word - we would joyfully embrace it. Satan cannot afford to let us choose the pathway of submission, for when we do, he is stripped of his authority and rendered powerless in our lives and the lives of those we love."

I don't want to give the false impression that I have this concept mastered! My perspective on submission has grown to understand God's purpose for authority. Believe it or not, submission to authority in our lives is a means of providing a spiritual covering and protection.

I believe the failure of many Christian wives to place themselves under their husband's authority leaves them vulnerable to the attacks of Satan on their minds, wills and emotions. When we come out from under authority - whether in big matters or in seemingly insignificant matters - we become "fair game" for the enemy.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss hit the nail on the head when she said:

"Proverbs 21:1 assures us that "the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases." Our willingness to place ourselves under God-ordained authority is the greatest evidence of how big we believe God really is."
"The question is, do we really believe God is bigger than any human authority? Do we believe He is big enough to change that authority's heart if necessary? Do we believe He is big enough to protect us if we take our rightful place under authority?"

The Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:1-2, that a wife's submission to her husband makes room for God to work in his heart and bring him to obedience. Peter goes on to say that a submissive heart attitude produces in a woman the most radiant and lasting kind of beauty."

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.Your beauty...should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet (peaceful) spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You areher daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 1 Peter 3:1-6

A wife's submission to her husband, regardless of his spiritual condition, actually releases her from fear because she has entrusted herself to God, who has ultimate control of her husband and her situation.

In her book The True Woman, Susan Hunt sums up the heart behind submission:

I cannot give logical arguments for submission. It defies logic that Jesus would release all the glories of heaven so He could give us the glory of heaven. Submission is not about logic; it is about love.
Jesus loved us so much that He voluntarily submitted to death on a cross. His command is that wives are to submit to their husbands. It is a gift that we voluntarily give to the man we have vowed to love in obedience to the Savior we love...
God said that man needs a helper. The true woman celebrates this calling and becomes affirming rather than a protagonist. She becomes substantively rather than superficially submissive.
The true woman is not afraid to place herself in a position of submission. She does not have to grasp; she does not have to control. Her fear dissolves in the light of God's covenant promise to be her God and to live within her. Submission is simply a demonstration of her confidence in the sovereign power of the Lord God. Submission is a reflection of her redemption.

God wants you. He wants all of you: all of your trust and your obedience. He is just waiting to shower down His logic-defying power into your life and show you the freedom and liberation that awaits a heart that is fully submitted to Him.

As you pray this prayer, pray for me also that we can walk in freedom together.

A prayer for you to pray:

Most High God, you say in your Word that if I humble myself under your mighty hand, You will lift me up in due time. If placing myself under my husband's authority causes me to be anxious, enable me to cast all my anxieties on you because you care for me. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

As I voluntarily place myself in submission to a sinful man, I trust you to work your logic-defying power to move his heart like a watercourse to follow after you without my words or my nagging.

I yield control of my body, soul and spirit to you that I may live victoriously in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Search This Blog

About Me

My name is Nena and I live in the beautiful state of Minnesota with my four children and my husband of 22 years.
My life started down a very difficult path about 11 years ago when my husband was diagnosed with major clinical depression. The Gospel of John says, "In this world you will have trouble". We have certainly had more than our share of trouble - if you have had trouble, take heart, there is hope and healing.
For about 4 years now, I have been on an intense quest for answers and I've been amazed at what I found. This blog is dedicated to anyone living with someone with a mental illness such as depression, anxiety, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts or any other destructive behaviors. My prayer is that my words will be an encouragement to you as you seek answers to the problems you face in your own life.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"! John 8:32